By Joshua Minchin
New Food
The Mississippi river flows from Minnesota in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south, through ten states and drains from 32 in total – plus two Canadian provinces. It plays a foundational role in US history, culture, and of course its agricultural industry.
It boasts some of the most fertile soils in the world and enables a multi-billion dollar seafood industry in Louisiana, the state arguably most shaped by the river’s flow over millennia.
It’s an incredibly powerful and important natural resource for the southern US in particular. For centuries farmers have harnessed and utilised the river’s flow, but their actions have caused unintended land loss that could see a vast portion of the state underwater by 2050. As Deputy Director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Greg Grandy said, that means not just tangible arable land loss, but habitat destruction too – which aside from the plight of Louisiana’s diverse wildlife will hugely impact those seafood businesses mentioned earlier.